News 2/1

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1149205&format=text
Ray Allen is a star in their eyes

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Sunday, February 1, 2009 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
Kevin Garnett wasn’t happy Ray Allen wasn’t named an All-Star reserve last week, but he wasn’t surprised the veteran Celtics [team stats] guard took it so well.

“He’s a professional,” Garnett said. “He’s not an (expletive). We’ve all got (expletive) in us, but he’s a professional about it. It’s out of his hands. Ain’t nothing you can do about it. You roll with the punches. You keep it moving. You continue to play well and continue to be who you are for your team. But it don’t make it right.”

Garnett believes the Celtics standing should have had more of an influence in Allen’s favor.

“I mean, this league is different, dog,” he said. “I don’t know what the hell it is now. I know back in the day a lot of it had to do with your own record versus what you were doing in this league. I think everybody has a little distaste about who is in. Every year you’re going to have that on who should be in and who not. But the obvious is the obvious. Ray should definitely be in the game. That’s hands down. There ain’t really too much to say about that. I’m not going to get into bashing other teams and who got in and who didn’t and how many teams got certain players in. But he should definitely be on the team.”

Defending Big Al

Several Celtics also saved a measure of All-Star displeasure for the Western Conference snub of old friend Al Jefferson [stats].

The former Celtic is averaging 22.9 points and 10.6 rebounds for the resurgent Timberwolves, who visit the Garden today.

“He’s having a great year, man,” said Kendrick Perkins [stats], who remains close with Jefferson. “He’s supposed to be an All-Star. I don’t know why he’s not, but if he keeps playing the way he is he should for sure be one next year.”

That Minnesota future is looking brighter on many fronts since another former Celtic, Kevin McHale, moved down from the front office and onto the bench as coach.

The Wolves began January with a league-best 10-2 mark before losing at home to Detroit on Wednesday and the Lakers on Friday.

“I think they’re really starting to come together, especially at the turn of the new year,” Paul Pierce [stats] said. “I think Kevin McHale really has those guys motivated. Al is starting to believe that he’s a true All-Star. Even though he didn’t make the team, you can see it in his play and his swagger out there - the way he leads his team and the way he talks to them.

“I watch them. I watch Al and (former Celtics) Ryan Gomes and Sebastian (Telfair). I follow these guys when I’m not playing, so I’ve had the chance to see them a lot. They’re starting to find their identity.”

Once upon a time, the Timberwolves’ identity was centered on Garnett. But now, as he prepares to play his old club for the third time in the regular season (he was injured for one of last year’s meetings), the novelty is wearing off.

“The first couple of times you know what it’s going to be,” Garnett said. “But I don’t look forward to playing Minnesota. I look forward to playing everybody. I look forward to coming in here and getting better with this team.

“It’s not so much an event like it used to be or how people try to put it. I’ll be glad when it gets watered down myself so I can actually enjoy the competition. But it’s a whole new team. I have no friends other than Mad Dog (Mark Madsen) and (Rashad) McCants that I know personally. Craig Smith and the young boys, they were young when I was there. When I see them I speak and I show some respect, but other than that my old personal friends are not even on that team.”

Garnett added: “It’s kind of funny to see Kevin McHale coaching because he always said that’s something he wasn’t into. It shows you how things change.”

The biggest in-season change was tough on Doc Rivers.

When the Wolves fired Randy Wittman and installed McHale, it was musical chairs with two of the Celtics coach’s friends. He was a teammate (in Atlanta) and business partner of Wittman, and he got to know McHale well during the years.

“But it’s a business and I get that,” Rivers said.

“I’ve known Kevin so long, and I’ve known Witt forever. The whole firing was tough for me because I like both guys. Both guys were really trying to do their job. I understand that. I just don’t like when it’s two of my friends.”

As for the club that remains, Rivers said, “They’re playing terrific. Kevin’s done a terrific job. I really think the biggest thing they did with the change is they’re one voice now. With Kevin as GM and Witt as coach, you had multiple voices a lot, and I think that hurt them. The bottom line is they’re just starting to play together. Al’s had an unbelievable season. I’m biased, so I think he should always be an All-Star.”

A day of rest

The C’s took yesterday off.

Rivers said getting back from Michigan in the wee hours following Friday’s win against Detroit coupled with the early start today combined to keep the team off the floor.

The C’s face a busy week. After today, they’ll travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday, then host the Lakers on Thursday and wrap up the week at the Knicks on Friday.

[FLCeltsFan]

A fun run for Kevin McHale and crew

By Mark Murphy / NBA Notes | Sunday, February 1, 2009 | www.bostonherald.com | NBA Coverage

Photo by AP
There never was a plan, exactly.

“It was just to win the next game when I took over,” Kevin McHale said last week. “And then the next game after that, and then the next month, and the next month. So there hasn’t been a lot more to it than that.”

Does this Hall of Famer, pressed into coaching duty for the second time in his tenure as personnel chief of the Minnesota Timberwolves, want to make it a profession this time? Ask him after the next month, or the month after that.

Better yet, ask him after the madness of the 2008-09 season has settled.

But right now McHale has a hot team at his command, which is to say the Timberwolves are relaxed, and not afraid to make mistakes.

“I think Kevin wanted them to understand that if you throw a pass into the stands, you have to forget about it,” a team official said of the message sent by McHale when he moved down from the general manager’s chair to the bench. “You have to realize that you’re not getting that one back, and to just keep playing.”

But look at the result now.

Al Jefferson [stats] is tearing up the NBA - it’s considered a huge snub that the ex-Celtic wasn’t named to the Western Conference All-Star team - and he’s not alone.

Randy Foye, after having so much of his young career abbreviated by injury, is showing the promise of his rookie season.

Go right down the list - Kevin Love, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair [stats], Craig Smith. McHale has made the game fun for all of them again since taking over on Dec. 8 after the tough job of dismissing a good friend and longtime associate, Randy Wittman.

But as it turns out that move was necessary. As the Timberwolves make their annual visit to the Garden today, the T’Wolves had gone 12-13 under McHale heading into Friday’s game against the Lakers, 10-3 since Jan. 2.

McHale replaced Wittman five games into a 13-game December losing streak.

But unlike when he took over for the final 31 games of the 2004-05 season after firing Flip Saunders, McHale’s enjoyment of teaching the game had to become a full-time endeavor.

That talented team had Kevin Garnett and Latrell Sprewell, and wasn’t even a year removed from reaching the Western Conference finals.

This team has no idea, literally.

“More than anything I wanted the guys to play, have some fun and win some games,” said McHale. “I’m just trying to help these guys in any way I can, just because that’s how it should be. You don’t want to overload them, or to ask them to do things that they aren’t capable of.”

That is where McHale’s three NBA titles and 13 seasons as a Celtic have come in valuable.

“Everyone has different experiences to draw on, and I think for me it was playing on really good teams,” he said. “None of us were asked to do things that we couldn’t do.

“It’s funny - the other day someone was asking me about Mike Miller being in a shooting slump, and I said I don’t even worry about it, he’ll work through it. I told them that if Larry Bird could go through a shooting slump, then anyone can. With Larry you were talking about one of the greatest shooters on the planet, one of the best of all time.”

For now, anyway, these young Timberwolves don’t have to aim that high. Foye, for instance, simply had to get back on track after missing 43 games to injury last season.

“Randy is a very good basketball player, and he has a rough time last year,” said McHale. “He’s just a young guy who continues to get better. He has the ability to shoot the three and he can play both guard spots. I’m so tired of all that point guard-off guard crap. He’s a guard.

“But I think the big thing is that we’re blessed with some really good people. If they weren’t all really good guys, then we couldn’t have come this far.”

This much is a given: McHale loves to teach. Just as he relished the opportunity to work on post moves with the young Garnett, he now mentors another young post prodigy in Jefferson.

“It was a very veteran team the last time I took over,” said McHale. “At that time we had gone through a fairly easy part of the schedule and we ended up going 7-18 or 7-19 - something terrible. With veterans there’s much more of a discipline that’s in play. Kevin and Spree were really easy to coach - speaking personally I loved dealing with Spree. And God rest his soul, Eddie Griffin was playing his heart out.

“With veterans, you tell them to do something and they just understand a lot more. That team ended up going 19-11 down the stretch. It was a team that was good enough to make the playoffs - you had the confidence that if you got in, you could do some damage.

“But with youngsters there’s a lot more teaching. And that’s what we’re doing right now.”

This time there is also no going back. McHale no longer makes personnel decisions for the team. For the first time since he was named assistant general manager in 1994, his sole focus is the bench.

Coaching into the next season wasn’t an option in 2005.

“At the time I still had three kids at home,” he said. “But now I’m down to one at home. My youngest son is 15, and to tell you the truth, I think Tommy kind of likes this.”

So, it seems, does his old man.

Kings with no kingdom

The visitors locker room in TD Banknorth Garden had the feel of a large waiting room Wednesday, with lots of impatience to go around.

As one of the worst teams in the NBA, the Sacramento Kings are the object of more than your standard amount of trade rumors.

Brad Miller, though a tough contractual fit for most teams with more than $11 million due him next season, is bound to be helping someone else - perhaps even the Celtics [team stats] - before long. John Salmons often gets mentioned in the same breath.

Many couldn’t help feeling a twinge of envy at the sight of another former King - Eddie House - playing large in the Celtics lineup.

“I heard a lot today about some (trade) stuff, so it’s being discussed,” Salmons told the Sacramento Bee. “It’s at the point where it’s got to be discussed. We’re at a point where they’re going to make decisions on where they’re going to go with the team and what they’re going to do, and everybody has got to be discussed. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Especially when that beast, 0-20 against Eastern Conference teams following the Celtics loss, has the worst record in the history of the Kings franchise.

Miller, asked if he would look forward to playing for a contender, said, “Of course I’d love to win. I’m just letting (Sacramento president Geoff Petrie) do his thing. You just never know what’s going to happen.

“I’m settled in in (Sacramento), with a lot of good friends out there,” he said. “I’m just letting him do his job, and we’ll see what happens.”

Uncertainty can be wonderful at times like this.

“We changed coaches, so you don’t know what is going to happen,” said Miller. “There could be a 12-player swap or it could be nobody, so you just try to do what you can do, without trying to do too much.

“It’s hard. Everyone has competed to get to this level.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/02/01/celtics_are_set_for_a_dance_with_wolves?mode=PF
Celtics are set for a dance with 'Wolves
By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff | February 1, 2009

Few were surprised when the Minnesota Timberwolves fired Randy Wittman as head coach following a 4-15 start to the season. But Kevin Garnett would not have predicted Kevin McHale taking over for Wittman.

"It's funny to see Kevin McHale as coach," Garnett said. "He always said he wasn't into that. But that shows how things change."

McHale, who as vice president of basketball operations was involved in Minnesota's drafting of Garnett in 1995, has guided the Timberwolves to 12 wins in 26 games since taking over as coach Dec. 8. Though Minnesota won 10 of 14 games in January, the Timberwolves are in the midst of a difficult stretch, which has included home losses to Detroit Wednesday and the Lakers Friday, followed by a visit to the Celtics today.

"The best thing with the change is that they have one voice now," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of the Timberwolves. "With Kevin as GM, there were multiple voices and that hurts."

The Timberwolves have struggled to recover from the loss of Garnett in a trade to the Celtics last season. And Garnett is adjusting to the anticipation of confronting his former team. Tensions remain, though, since Garnett, 32, played 12 seasons in Minnesota.

"I look forward to playing Minnesota," Garnett said. "But I'll be glad when it gets watered down."

After acquiring Garnett for five players and two draft choices, the Celtics won last year's NBA championship and have a league-best 39-9 record this season. Garnett, named an NBA All-Star for the 12th time, had 22 points and nine rebounds Friday night as the visiting Celtics defeated Detroit, 86-78, for their 10th straight victory.

Former Celtic Al Jefferson was in contention to join Garnett in the All-Star Game, but was not among the West coaches' choices.

"He's had an unbelievable season," Rivers said of Jefferson. "I'm biased, but I always think he should be an All-Star."

Jefferson, averaging 22.9 points and 10.6 rebounds, remains in touch with former teammates and predicts the Celtics could repeat as champions.

"It's always good to go back to Boston," Jefferson said. "I love the fans there and they love me. But it's just another game.

"I wasn't worried about the guys when they went through their bad times. I knew they were going to get it turned around. Now they're playing like they're supposed to be playing.

"I'm proud of them and how all the young guys are stepping up in big roles. I just think they have a chance to do it all over again."

The Celtics are outscoring opponents by an average of 16 points per game since Jan. 11. Before the victory at Detroit, the Celtics had not won a game by fewer than 10 points since a 115-109 overtime decision against Toronto Jan. 12.

"It was good to play a close one," Ray Allen said of the Piston game. "Because when you keep winning these double-digit games, we [the Celtic starters] are not in the game in the fourth quarter.

"We definitely need to get that practice of playing tough games down the stretch."

The Celtics should not expect many blowouts in seven games remaining before the Feb. 15 All-Star Game in Phoenix. They will play five games in the next eight days - against Minnesota, at Philadelphia (Tuesday), against the Lakers (Thursday), at New York (Friday), and against San Antonio (Sunday).

The Celtics were 41-9 going into last year's All-Star break, followed by a three-game losing streak.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/02/01/jefferson_still_reaching_for_the_stars?mode=PF

Jefferson still reaching for the Stars
He gets left in shadows by Sun
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | February 1, 2009

When Al Jefferson's cellphone rang with a call from his agent Thursday, he had already prepared himself for the bad news.

The Timberwolves center was averaging monster numbers when the Western Conference All-Star reserves were named that night, yet the Wolves' record was just 16-28. So even though Jefferson's statistics spoke for themselves, the Western Conference coaches spoke louder, leaving him off the All-Star squad.

"I kind of knew it was going to happen," said Jefferson. "I just had that feeling. There is always some reason as to why I don't make it or a reason why I shouldn't make it. That's the way I look at it."

An argument could be made that Jefferson was more deserving than Phoenix's Shaquille O'Neal. But pedigree and the fact the Suns are a much better team than the Timberwolves surely played a role in the coaches voting for O'Neal.

At the time of the announcement, Jefferson was averaging 22.7 points and 10.5 rebounds, compared with O'Neal's 18.2 and 9.2. But with solid play over the last two months for a winning team, and with the All-Star Game in Phoenix Feb. 15, the West coaches gave the 36-year-old O'Neal the nod, knowing the 24-year-old Jefferson will have many more opportunities.

"I'm disappointed for Al and I feel bad," said Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale, who was a seven-time All-Star with the Celtics. "But as I told Al, there is some poor 14- or 15-year-old kid who is playing who in about 10 or 11 years will deserve to make his first All-Star team, and Al will make his eighth All-Star team on reputation and he'll be cursing out Al Jefferson like he is cursing out people here. It all goes around."

Houston center Yao Ming was voted in as the West's starting center by the fans despite Jefferson having slightly stronger statistics. A recent knee injury brought some concern over whether Yao would be able to play in the All-Star Game, but he has already returned to the Rockets' lineup. And if an injury did occur to a West player prior to the game, Jefferson would prefer his first selection didn't come as a replacement.

"I don't want to be no backup plan," Jefferson said. "But if it happens that way, I accept it. I'm not going to be sitting back on pins and needles waiting when I'm still going to have chances to make it the old-fashioned way. It's really not any fun that way [via injury replacement]."

Even without an All-Star nod, Jefferson is widely viewed as one of the NBA's top players. His stellar play and strong leadership have eased some of the Timberwolves' pain after the face of the franchise, Kevin Garnett, was traded to Boston prior to last season. Jefferson, a former first-round pick of the Celtics, will surely be an All-Star in the near future, but the Wolves winning would certainly help his cause.

"I'm just going to continue to do my job," said Jefferson, who plans to go home to Mississippi during the All-Star break. "It's going to motivate me to work hard. All-Star is not always about the player on a team, it's about how good your team is doing. It's all about working hard and getting your team to win games.

"We're just trying to be a playoff team. I'm not trying to do it for the All-Star [Game]. If I make it, I make it. I just have to move on and try to turn things around in Minnesota to be the type of team I know we can be."


Traveling calls aside, McHale likes the post
If only Kevin McHale could figure out a way to teleport himself to NBA cities, his second stint as Timberwolves coach would be perfect.

McHale replaced Randy Wittman after Minnesota opened the season 4-15. In the process, McHale was stripped of his vice president of basketball operations title, which included overseeing the draft and trades. Under McHale, the Wolves are 12-14, including 10-4 in January.

"It has its moments, good and bad," said McHale of coaching. "We are really blessed with some nice young men here. If it weren't for that, it would be very hard to do it. These guys are good basketball players, they're great people. It's a good mix of guys. They give you their concentration and what they got.

"All those things going into it make it tolerable. But in 1993, I was tired of the travel. And believe me, the travel hasn't gotten any more enjoyable for me. And when I retired from Boston, it wasn't. I still liked the games. It's the lifestyle that I didn't like, and I like the lifestyle a lot better now. But that being said, being blessed with really good guys makes it tolerable."

"Coach is giving guys their confidence back," said Timberwolves center Al Jefferson. "He lets us go out there and play free and let us play through our mistakes."

So, how long will McHale remain on the bench?

"I don't know," he said. "I would not make a commitment that I couldn't keep. I just don't think you should do that. You kind of just wait and see how everything goes. We'll go from here. But I'm very connected to these guys. I brought most of them here and I want them to have success. That's a driving force for me. We'll see. The difference is the guys believe in each other. It has nothing to do with me. My biggest contribution is all the prayers I say for them."


Etc.
Take notice
O.J. Mayo is scoring big - in obscurity.

In recent years, only LeBron James and Greg Oden received more publicity coming out of high school than Mayo, who also was in the spotlight as a freshman for Southern Cal last season, when he was named a finalist for the Naismith and Wooden player of the year awards after scoring 20.7 points per game.

But while the 6-foot-4-inch, 210-pound guard is the leading scorer among NBA rookies, his game has largely gone unnoticed nationally because he plays for the lowly Grizzlies.

Mayo entered last night averaging 19 points per game, good for 25th in the league. The third overall pick in the draft also was shooting 87.5 percent from the free throw line to rank 17th in the league. The 21-year-old also has proved to be extremely coachable and humble.

"I want to be the best basketball player I can be and play in the league for a long time," Mayo said.

Unfortunately for Mayo, the Grizzlies are just 11-34, play in one of the league's smallest markets, and have a very young team, averaging 24.4 years. Lionel Hollins also recently replaced Marc Iavaroni as coach.

Until there is a major turnaround for a franchise that hasn't been to the playoffs in three years, the lack of attention for Mayo probably won't change.

"The organization has been down," Mayo said. "I really want to win. That's most important. It will take a team effort. We're very young. We look forward to maturing together."

There will be a rare chance to see Mayo on national television when he plays for the rookie team against the sophomores in the Rookie Challenge Feb. 13 during All-Star weekend.

Mayo faces stiff competition for Rookie of the Year from Chicago's Derrick Rose, Portland's Oden, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, and the Clippers' Eric Gordon.

"It would be a special award," Mayo said. "But at the end of the day it is about wins and to get better."


National spotlight
Nets coach Lawrence Frank said forward Yi Jianlian's hand injury will likely keep him out through the All-Star break. With help from fans in his native China voting online, Yi challenged Celtic Kevin Garnett for the second starting forward spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team before coming up short.

"It's kind of a mixed thing," Frank said. "But the positive thing that was shown is the popularity of the NBA in China. It got attention on a national level. But Kevin Garnett's résumé speaks for itself."

Speaking of Garnett, the debut of "NBA Journey - Kevin Garnett" will air on NBA TV Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The 90-minute program chronicles Garnett's career, from being drafted by the Timberwolves in 1995 to winning a title with the Celtics last season.


Really big shoes
Several All-Stars, including Garnett, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, Devin Harris, and Chauncey Billups, will be endorsing adidas sneakers. But come All-Star weekend, Howard, who received a record 3,150,181 All-Star votes from fans, will be the focus of the company's advertising campaign.

Meanwhile, despite not playing in college, Garnett will be highlighted in an adidas campaign during the NCAA Tournament.


Toning it down
Because of the trying economy, All-Star weekend isn't expected to include as many lavish parties as in the past. Among those canceled is ESPN's bowling party, Zo & Magic's 8-Ball Challenge, and the Nike party.

TNT analyst Kenny Smith's annual charity party Feb. 13 will still take place, but on a smaller scale. The NBA Players Association Gala, considered the weekend's top party since all the players stop by, will rely more on DJ music than live acts, end an hour earlier than normal, and have fewer invitees. At the event, the Players Association will present Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash, and Adonal Foyle with community contribution awards.

"We wanted to provide a safe place for our guys to congregate," said Megan Inaba, the Players Association's director of events and sponsorships. "It's still going to be a good time."


Washout
After four straight playoff appearances, the Wizards have become the league's bottom-feeder. What went wrong? Let us count the ways.


'Zero' impact -- After three knee surgeries in less than two years, Gilbert Arenas has yet to return to the court this season, or even practice. That wasn't what the Wizards expected when they gave "Agent Zero" a six-year, $111 million extension last summer.

Middle of nowhere -- The frontcourt has been a mess. Brendan Haywood suffered a wrist injury during training camp, likely shelving him for the season. Etan Thomas has a torn MCL and could miss a month. And now Andray Blatche is out 2-4 weeks after taking the brunt of a collision with Shaquille O'Neal last week.

Hard to handle -- Starting point guards this season include Antonio Daniels, Mike James, Juan Dixon, and Dee Brown. Washington can't wait to welcome back the play-making ability of DeShawn Stevenson, who hasn't played since Dec. 30 because of lower back pain.

Pare Jordan -- Eddie Jordan, the franchise's most successful coach since !!!GREENIAC!!! Motta in the 1970s, was fired after a 1-10 start. Ed Tapscott went from director of player personnel to interim coach (his first coaching stint in the NBA), but at least he's getting a good look at which players to build around next season.